Place Value Teaching Tens and Ones

Place value Teaching Tens and Ones is usually one of the first place value lessons you teach in kindergarten and first grade to introduce place value, so I love to make it a fun one! And what is more fun than ice cream to learn base 10 blocks, tens and ones, expanded form, and number words?? 

For this lesson, you give students 4-5 cones with a number on them and then they build their ice cream cones by adding the matching scoops. You can easily make it harder or easier by which scoops you choose for them to build with and how many. You could do simply 1 scoop per cone to learn number words, 2 scoops to learn tens and ones and base 10, 3 scoops to add in expanded form, or any combination!

The first full set for this center is teen numbers only (numbers under 20) so they can first practice in a super easy way. I would also recommend only doing 2 scoops at first (base 10 and tens/ones) and doing only teen numbers. Then the next week, do the same center (or small group activity or however you use this) but with any 2 digit number under 50. You can also mix the 2 sets to make a 3rd review center.

 

What I love most about this place value lesson is how easily you can differentiate so all of your students can get practice at their level and feel successful, while all doing the same activity. The amount of numbers you practice at a time, the number of scoops you choose, and which ones, are all ways to level this center up or down to meet the needs of each of your kids. The recording sheets come in 2, 3, and 4 scoop options to make this super easy.

They also have an example to follow, with the first scoop done for them, so the kids can be self directed and know what a completed ice cream is supposed to look like :) I put all 4 scoops for this picture example to show all the possibilities, but if you were using this green recording sheet with 3 scoops, you’d only have them be matching 3 scoops per cone, so I’d take out the number words option, for example, for each number if I was using this sheet.

Also another fun tip is to print the recording sheet on color paper like this! Slip it in a sheet protector and let them write their answers on it using a dry erase marker for extra fun! If it’s just a center and you don’t care about them turning work in, that’s an easy way to make this more engaging.

 

 As you can see, the scoop options for each number cone are:

* Number words (twenty-five)

* Base 10 blocks to represent the number

* Tens and Ones (2 tens 5 ones)

* Expanded form (20 + 5)

 

But the recording sheets (which are optional) are also differentiated so they can show their answers with 2 scoops, 3 scoops, or 4 scoops. What I love, too, is you can reuse this center to teach each part. So you could do it with the cones and only tens and ones. Then later do it with tens and ones AND base 10. Then later add in expanded form and just keep adding a scoop :) Or do 2 at a time but a different 2 scoop types each time.

 

My favorite way to use these is to use the cones and the number words only (1 scoop per cone) in the beginning of the year - for simple number words practice and to teach them HOW to do the activity. Then later, when teaching place value, do 3 scoops of base 10, tens and ones, and expanded form. (For kids who struggle, remove the expanded form at first and add it later.) But all of the ways to differentiate make it a perfect (and fun!) activity that all of your kids can feel successful practicing place value skills with. Making sure they LOVE math time is actually more important than them getting the skills right away. If they keep loving math, they’ll keep working to learn the skills so math should always feel fun and like an exciting puzzle to solve whenever possible.

 

Speaking of puzzles, you know I love puzzles! These puzzles are another super easy and fun way to practice tens and ones.

Have kids simply match the number to the base 10 blocks representation and how many tens and ones it has. Super simple but effective practice! Just like with the ice cream cones, I have a teen numbers only version of the center. This is perfect to do first with your lower groups, or just first in general, or if you’re teaching kindergarten and only doing teen numbers. :)

Another thing you can do (as seen above) is have the kids build the numbers with blocks. If you don’t have place value blocks, math cubes work perfect! There’s a link to the exact ones I use in the right sidebar of this page if you need some. You’re going to have kids who learn by building, just like you have visual learners, or kids who learn by listening, or kids who learn by writing, so you want to try to provide something for all of them to help ALL of your kids get it in the way that makes the most sense to them.

 

You can do this for any place value activity, including the ice cream cones. Just have them build the number in blocks (have ten blocks already formed with 10 cubes linked and they stay that way) next to it. Even while completing a simple place value worksheet, they can build their numbers/answers next to it. Letting them manipulate blocks helps them deepen their understanding, and also helps fidgety kids channel their energy in a way that’s connected to the lesson.

Another way some kids love to learn is by coloring. Coloring is a hugely impactful learning tool when used educationally!

 

For this simple worksheet activity, let them use markers or crayons (I prefer skinny markers for this) to color in the base 10 blocks to represent the number then write how many tens and ones the number has. This is an excellent way to get in tens and ones practice in a very visual and kinesthetic way.

 

This particular worksheet is from the Groups of Ten section of my big Place Value Math Unit (that all of these activities I am showing are included in), but I have these worksheets in a lot of levels and options for tons of place value practice. The versions inside the unit, where it looks like this but is only 1 number per page, were so popular that I kept getting requests to make them for more numbers. So I made a separate pack of all numbers 1-120 so you could do 1 page a day as an easy Number of the Day morning work activity to do a little place value practice with a new random number each day. It’s a fun little warm up to get in a little base 10 blocks and tens and ones practice each day :)

 

 

Speaking of Base 10 blocks, these simple little center cards are my favorite way to introduce and practice base ten.

You can never get enough place value blocks practice so why not make it colorful? :) For this center, you cut out these cards and mix them up and lay them out. Kids simply pick a card, figure out the number the blocks represent (and build it themselves if you want), and then write it on their recording sheet next to the matching center. Boom! So easy.

All of the centers, games, and activities in my math units come with student friendly directions like this so they’re so easy to pull out and play. They also always come with teacher/homeschooler directions that are more in depth of how to prep and set it up, ways to make it harder/easier, fun ideas, or anything I felt would be helpful.

 

Another fun game to teach tens and ones is Place Value Roll! They roll the (included) dice to see how many tens blocks it has and how many ones blocks it has.

What I love most about this activity is it is a sneaky way to consolidate the 2 separate skills of looking at base 10 blocks to know how many tens and ones a number has AND the ability to know what the actual number is. It sets it up in a vertical way where they see how writing how many tens and ones is actually simply writing the number. 4 tens and 2 ones is 42. (This activity is also a great bridge to teaching and learning the value of digits, which I'll write a post about later)

 

It’s also an easy game for them to play independently over and over but get different numbers so this could stay in your centers buckets for weeks! It's also a great activity to throw in your fast finishers bucket for kids who finish their work early to have another thing to choose from.

 

One way to make Place Value Roll a fun partner game is to have each partner have their own recording sheet but share dice. They take turns rolling the dice to build a number. Whoever builds a bigger number for that roll/round circles their number. Whoever has the most circles wins! You can put the recording sheets in sheet protectors and give them dry erase markers so they can wipe and play again once they fill all the spots to make it an endless center. Remember when I said what’s better than ice cream? Endless centers.

 

For assessment, there are tons of worksheets to use in my place value unit, but I also love to use cut and paste worksheets as an informal assessment. They’re the best, in my opinion, because kids can move around their answers and really assess their own understanding too. I love that they're self-checking and kids see glue as permanent so they often take a moment to proofread, which is a valuable skill in itself.

 

They’re also just great straightforward practice.

As with everything, I differentiate these too :)

One thing I’ve shown on my blog and on Facebook before is that you can make any cut and paste worksheet into a reusable center by simply using fastener tape so kids can stick the answers on and can pull them off to reset it to be played again. Laminate the papers, put little strips of fastener tape on the sheet and on the answers, and voila - instant "game" for any skill. Scroll to the red Fact Fluency sheets in my Fact Fluency in First Grade blost post if you want to see a picture example.

You can also just simply print on color paper to make it more colorful.

It just looks more fun in color, right?

I'm selective about what I print on color paper since it's more expensive but I love to use it occasionaly to spruce up a "boring" skill. 

 

Anyway, there are so many more activities I could show you for teaching tens and ones during your place value lessons but these are my favorite. I’ll try to write more for the other place value skills (expanded form, groups of ten, value of digits, and all that good stuff!) to show you more ideas & activities from my giant 

Place Value Math Unit

 Everything you have seen in this blog post is from that unit! :) 

If you want to see more of what is inside the unit, I also wrote a big Place Value in First Grade blog post that shows more place value activities and ideas too!

 

You’re also more than welcome to join my free Facebook group for Teaching Math in First Grade if you want to get more tips and ideas for early elementary math! I LOVE sharing tips, ideas, and activities. It's also a great place to ask questions and learn from each other. Just make sure you answer all 3 questions to get approved to join the group. I also have a First Grade Phonics group and a couple others if you’re interested in phonics too!

 

One tip I’ve shared in the math group specifically for teaching tens and ones is to WRITE the numbers on a “ten” block and a “one” block. This allows kids to visually see exactly what you’re saying when you say “ten” – it is simply ten “ones” blocks grouped together to make counting faster.

This will really help your kids see what the tens and ones blocks actually represent, so I highly recommend doing this for a set of blocks. Write 1-10 on 5 "tens" blocks and 1 on 20 "ones" blocks - and have kids use those to build the numbers you're practicing when first practicing. This is especially effective to use during lessons at your small groups table (teacher table) if you have one.

 

In general, I think it’s helpful to have place value blocks or math cubes out and available any time you’re learning place value, whether it’s a puzzle or a worksheet or a game. It’s nice to provide that support whenever possible.

If you want all these fun activities, go grab First Grade Math Unit 9: Place Value then join us on Facebook and let’s make math fun!

 

 

For more math posts from me, check out:

Graphing and Data Analysis

Composing Shapes

Money

Building Number Sense

Fact Fluency in First Grade

Telling Time

Fractions

& more! :) I also write a lot about phonics, literacy, and classroom management so feel free to browse around! 

 

Thanks so much!

Place Value in First Grade

For a ton of first grade place value activities, resources, and fun ideas - keep scrolling down!
Unless, of course, you want to read about what's been going on with me lately :)

I have been extremely busy the last few weeks...

First of all, Mr. Giraffe and I bought a house!!

We are so excited to finally ditch tiny apartment living and have a house of our own... and also just so excited to be IN the house. Our closing date kept getting pushed back and we actually ended up having to move all of our things into storage without us! It basically went something like, "Hi Mr. Mover dudes, nice to meet you. Please take every single thing I own and put it in some shed I can't see. I'll be fine here.. with my walls."

This is how I TpT'd while our stuff was in storage. I'm super fancy, right?? Talk about a TpT addiction.

So I kind of like to have to organize everything. Check out our color coded moving boxes! Each room in our new house was assigned a different color and the boxes were labeled both on the top and side (paper bent on edge of box) with that color paper so you could see the color even if the boxes were stacked, U or D (upstairs or downstairs for easy reference), and its contents. Then we put that color paper on the door frame so it would be easy to just drop off the box in the right room. I'm not crazy, right? Right?? Whatever, call me crazy, it actually made things waaay easier!

So then moving day came. If you've never moved in Arizona in July, I totally recommend it. Who needs hot yoga when you can carry boxes up stairs in 111 degrees? But that's okay, I'll just take a nice cool shower after that all day move... Nope! The water guy never came to turn it on... for 5 days. No running water for 5 days. FIVE days. Cinco. No big deal, who needs to take showers or flush toilets anyway? It was kind of like camping but without the roasting marshmallows or nature or.. basically any of the good parts haha. Thankfully Mr. Giraffe's parents live nearby so we raided their shower. Again, we've been SUPER fancy lately.

But we LOVE our new house! ....now that it has running water, internet, and cable :) Here's the hubby diving in the new pool. Can you believe I haven't been in it yet??

One of the first things we did was buy the kitties a new cat tower so they could feel more comfy in the house because, you know, the cats are eating imported wild Alaskan salmon during the move while we eat McDonald's. Okay, okay, so we had Sonic but still! As you can see from our baby girl's face, she is not amused (but she also isn't ever). They love the house now though! Watching them run up stairs for their first time was adorable.

Okay, so anyway, back to teacher-y stuff! I know it's not really the time of year for place value at all but I am way too excited to share some things from my place value unit with you! I started making my First Grade Math Units last year starting at Unit 7 then I made 8, 9, 3, 5, 1, and 2 so I just may go out of order sharing them as well :)

First up for me to blog about iiiiiiis Place Value!

Graphics by http://frompond.blogspot.com, Lovin Lit, and KG Fonts

I love math. I know, I know, I'm a nerd but I really do love math! I think it can be really fun if you do it right. One thing that I think is SO important, though, is differentiation with math. Not every kiddo is going to get it that day or even that week so you have to meet them at their level with every worksheet and activity. That's one thing I love about the math units I've been making is they are completely differentiated. All the concepts have 3 levels of worksheets - A, B, and C - so all students can feel successful and learn without frustration - this supports your struggling students, provides practice for your on-level kids, and challenges the ones who typically "get it" right away.

 

I recommend assessing the levels of your kids ALL. THE. TIME. to change your groups, the level of worksheets you give them, the level of centers you give them, etc. because some kids will learn certain concepts really fast and other concepts really slow and you need to change your small groups accordingly. One way I do this, if you look at the 2 pictures above, is the bottom of every worksheet has a little self-reflection for students to circle if they thought that worksheet was easy, just right, or hard. Encourage them to really think about it - hard doesn't mean it took a long time, hard means they had to think hard to solve things. When you train your students to truly assess their understanding, it will work wonders!! THEY will know what they need help on and you'll be able to quickly see how they feel about a concept. Pull them back to your teacher table for a little mini-lesson during math centers if they circled "Hard" for a concept. It will help you not miss those little holes in their foundation which will help them (and you!) all year.

My favorite way to learn is with math centers that seem like games! One of my favorite centers in this pack is the Place Value Roll because it can be used over and over again with all different numbers which provides A LOT of practice!

For this center, they roll both the tens dice and the ones dice to make a number. They write how many tens, how many ones, and what number they made. Several different dice are included - they're easy to assemble, just fold and tape/glue :) I recommend printing them on thick paper or even cardstock for durability if you can but I print them on regular printer paper so no worries if you can't! Like I said, you can keep this center for a lot of practice and since there are so many number possibilities, they won't get bored. If you wanted to make this a partner center or to add a challenge, have students work with a partner or in groups and make it a game. Kids take turns rolling and writing their tens/ones/number, whoever has the highest number for that round circles their number and wins that round. Whoever has the most circles when the sheet is filled wins! It's always fun to add a little friendly competition to make it more fun but these are great independent practice as well.

Base 10 Base 10 Base 10! You can never get enough Base 10 practice! This is one of the many activities in the pack that practices base ten. There are also A LOT of worksheets to practice but hands-on centers are my favorite! For this center, kids simply take the cards and write the number the base ten blocks are representing. Simple, easy practice!

A great way to practice Base 10 is to take the actual base 10 blocks and lay them on a 100 or 120 chart. Lay the tens across the rows of ten to show them that the ten really does represent that many. For example, have them build 37 by laying 3 tens across the first 3 rows and 7 ones on each of the numbers and watch their faces light up with understanding when they place the last "one" block on the number 37 on the chart. It makes a fabulous small group activity to build understanding of what base 10 blocks actually mean!

I also love puzzles! I create a lot of puzzles because I think they are fantastic, (mostly) self-checking practice! They're fun but really make the kids think. You should always have a recording sheet though! All of my centers always come with teacher directions, student friendly directions, and a recording sheet. You need that accountability plus you want to check to make sure they did it right :) 

More puzzles! Like I said, I love puzzles!

You know what else I love?? Cut and paste activities for math!! I'm obsessed with having cut and pastes for every math skill. You take a concept that could otherwise be not-so-fun and make it a PARTY when you add a little scissors and glue. It could be 1,000 calculus word problems (is that even a real thing??) but if there are scissors and glue involved, it's like a craft party! :)

Even with things as fun as cut and pastes, you should try to differentiate! As you can see the pictures above have smaller numbers while the picture below has bigger numbers. You want all of your students to eventually do all the numbers BUT some kiddos may need to build to get to that point. Give them base 10 blocks to build those teen numbers first with the above sheets so they can SEE and understand what they're saying when they say 18 is 10+8 or that 18 is 1 ten and 8 ones. You want them to get the "why," not just know how to write it. Have them build the numbers as they do the cut and paste to solidify their understanding. 

Hands-on exploration and differentiation are so important and that's why I provide different levels for as much as I can, even cut and pastes and centers.

This pack has 16 different cut and pastes :) Is it weird that I like to do them too?

Okay so this is something that I feel like a lot of teachers neglect when teaching place value so it's an entire concept in the unit: the value of individual units within numbers. They need to understand that the 2 in 24 is actually 20 and the 4 is 4 ones. This is WHAT PLACE VALUE IS and yet it seems to be skipped a lot. It's great they can "read" the base 10 blocks and all but they need to understand what each number within the number stands for. This will help them so much with number sense, especially when they get older. This is a fun cut and paste just to practice the tens and the ones place which is a great place to start with this concept but there are also a lot of worksheets included that identify the value of each digit - so important! Make sure you make that an integral part of your place value unit. Okay okay I'm lecturing now.. sorry guys, I'm hungry. :)

Speaking of hungry, how yummy is this Place Value ice cream math station?? Students build ice cream cones for each number by adding the matching scoops. It comes in a lot of different levels so all your kiddos can enjoy the delish learning.

Okay, so now for the assessment!

 Assessment is key to differentiating. Of course you're assessing all the time in a lot of different ways but it's always nice to have a formal assessment at the end of a unit to see where everyone is at. I always include 3 versions of the test (same format and question types but different numbers) so you can give a pretest, a midway-through-the-unit test, and a post-test. I think it's good to know what you're working with to start, what they specifically ARE and ARE NOT getting about halfway through so you can focus on those areas for the rest of the unit, and then a post-test to see how well they picked up everything. Test and then use it to build your small groups and guide your instruction. To differentiate, I recommend breaking the students up into small groups of 3-5 to pull during centers based on the specific skill they're lacking. Pull a small group of just the kids who struggled with base ten blocks and work with them on that skill and then pull a group of just the kids who struggled with expanded form and work on that skill. You may have a "high" kid and a "low" kid in the same group - that's okay! You may have a struggling kid that sits in on 3 different skill-focused groups, that's okay too! Differentiation should be flexible. Don't keep your groups the same just because that's *their group* - give them all what they need when they need it. Here's an example of one of the tests:

For easy grouping, just circle the entire section on the test if the student missed them and then sort the papers by what sections were circled to easily form your groups! For example, if the student missed 2 out of the 3 problems for 42 = _tens and _ones, circle that section and call them for that small group.

Okay so that's enough pictures!! Like the picture below says, Unit 9 is huge so I obviously can't show you everything but I hope I've helped a little bit and given you some place value ideas! Bust out those base 10 blocks and have some fun!!

If you want my First Grade Math Unit 9, click {HERE} to check it out in my TpT store!

If you like it, check out the other units as well or consider saving a ton by buying the bundle :)

This unit is now also available in SPANISH.

For blog posts about other math units of mine, check out:
Fractions
Telling Time
Adding 3 Numbers
Building Number Sense
Fact Fluency
Making 10 to Add
Money (also in Canadian, Australian, and U.K. coins)
Composing Shapes
Graphing and Data Analysis


Follow me on Pinterest for more teaching ideas! Also follow me on TeachersPayTeachers so you see when I post new things! 

Also, don't forget to join Miss Giraffe's Class so you never miss out on fun ideas and exclusive free stuff from me only for subscribers!

Okay so I know, I know, this post is huge already but I just had to take a second to say:

OH em GEE, look at my new blog design!!! It was done by the awesome Designs by Kassie who I totally recommend if you're needing a blog designer! I love creating and design and I'm a total perfectionist so I probably drove her a little crazy with all of my little requests but she put it all together fabulously and I really love it! She is really sweet and super easy to work with. Check out her portfolio and you'll fall in love! I had looked at a lot of designers' portfolios and her work is just outstanding. She has a long wait list so don't wait! Despite her long list, I feel like she was prompt, patient, and it all got done really quickly! Thanks Kassie!!


Thanks for reading this looooong post. How do you teach place value in your classroom? I'd love to hear about any tips, tricks, or fun activities!

If you want to save the ideas on this post for later, feel free to pin this collage or any other place value picture from this post!